Santa Maria Encanelado Biscuits

Biscoitos Encanelados de Santa Maria are rings of yeasted dough, oven-baked and then lavishly coated in sugar syrup beaten until white and opaque. Beneath the brittle shell is a firm but not dry sweet-bread biscuit made with wheat flour, eggs, butter and lard.

They share a base dough with Santa Maria's Biscoitos de Orelha, but the result is visually and texturally distinct. Instead of the snipped triangle resembling an ear, the encanelado closes into a ring; instead of remaining bare, it receives the white coating associated with cavacas. Once glazed, the biscuits traditionally dry under a white cloth, helping the coating acquire its characteristic colour.